Do
you need a hood for your 1967 Ford
Mustang? How about a grille for a
2000 BMW 528I? Maybe a fender for
your 1978 Chevrolet Malibu? Well,
you’re
in luck! RockAuto now has Sherman
restoration and collision parts to
fulfill your body part needs.

The Sherman
parts currently available date
back as far as 1961 and stretch
forward
to 2008 models for domestic
and import vehicles. You will
find all of Sherman’s parts
in the “Body-Exterior” category
of the RockAuto
Catalog.

Marshall Transmission Assemblies

RockAuto
is happy to announce that Automatic
Transmission Assemblies are now available
in our catalog.
We have once again teamed up with
Marshall Engines,
this time to supply remanufactured
transmissions! Transmissions remanufactured
by Marshall Engines receive expert
technical care coupled with advanced
procedures and quality controls that
far exceed the industry standard.
Find these assemblies and more in
the "Transmission-Automatic" category of
the RockAuto
Catalog.

Forum of the Month

S10
Planet began as a small
tight-knit community in December
of 2000.
Over time the community has grown
but it still remains tight-knit,
where there is a family-like atmosphere
for all members. Currently the forum
has 10,000+ members who come from
various backgrounds all over the
United States and Canada. Each member
adds his/her own real life experiences
to the site. One member even
went as far as getting the S10 Planet
logo tattooed on his arm to show
his dedication and love for the site.

The forum
focuses on Chevrolet S10 trucks
and is broken down into various
sections. An open forum is used for
general chitchat and for everything
else that isn’t directly truck
related. The mechanical and vehicle
specific areas of the forums are
two of the most active sections of
the forum. These sections provides
great support to many S10 planet
members. Next there is the How-To
section that includes many step by
step walkthroughs. Other sections
at the member’s
disposal are Regional & Club,
Classifieds, Member Projects,
and a VIP section for the elite members
that donate to the site.

If you are
the administrator or member of
a forum and you would like to
see your website featured in
an upcoming newsletter and receive
a discount code to share with
your members, contact jessa@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

I
recently decided to change out the
radiator in my
daughter's 2003 Nissan Xterra, which
was damaged by the previous
owner.
Knowing that some car security systems
relock the doors after a certain
time, I dropped the keys in my pocket.
Leaning over the front of the car,
I was removing the bolts from the
engine driven fan when all of a sudden
the engine began to crank and then
started up! I jerked both hands out
of there and avoided injury with
my cat like (I am 70 years old)
reflexes. It turns out I had pressured
the remote start button for the required
three seconds, on the fob in my pocket,
and the engine just did as it was
told.

Most instructions, for jobs under
the hood, start out by removing the
negative cable from the battery,
but I couldn't remotely (pun intended)
think why the radiator job would
require killing the power.

Safety first y'all!

Jim in Arizona

Tell us about
your most infamous auto repair
blunder. Use your woe to help others
avoid similar mistakes. Please
email your story to flamur@rockauto.com.
Include your mailing address and
shirt size (large or extra large)
and we will mail you a RockAuto "Do
it yourself?" t-shirt if we
publish your story. The story will
be credited using only your first
name and your vague geographic
location (state, province, country,
continent, etc.) so you can remain
semi-anonymous!

Private Label Warranties

I
watched as a couple of friends bought
a new car. After they negotiated
the purchase price they thought it
was time to relax. Instead, they
were escorted to an office for a
high-pressure sales pitch from the
dealer’s creative financing
and extended warranty man. Part of
his warranty pitch included pulling
out an engine control module I recognized
to be from a late 1980s Chrysler.
He used the ECM as a prop to demonstrate
how high-tech and potentially expensive
to repair their new car was. I could
tell the friends were not biting
so I never needed to chime in and
ask the salesman what that old Chrysler
ECM (available at RockAuto.com for
less than $100) would be doing in
a brand new Dodge.

I hear in the news that Chrysler,
Ford, or GM cannot use bankruptcy
to reorganize because customers
would be too worried about unmet
warranty claims to ever buy cars
again. Like the Dodge dealer above,
many car dealers have already been
telling customers the factory warranty
is not good enough and hawking
other warranties. If factory warranties
no longer came with the car then
it seems like private label warranties
and other insurance type products
would be available and eagerly
sold or included by the dealers.

Since I
have never owned a new car, I
also wonder why people would
even worry so much about warranties.
If it breaks, then buy the parts
and fix it. My dad needed to remind
me that the risks of buying a $30000
new car might be more nerve-wracking
then buying one of my sub $5000 “classics”.
I also remembered that affordable
replacement parts could sometimes
be hard to find for spanking new
cars. If a part or system is defective
from the start, then there is a
chance only the car dealer would
have access to replacement parts
and they would be expensive.

Chrysler, Ford, and GM might be
able to sell more cars now if they
went ahead and cleared up the warranty
concerns. Some potential customers
are probably too worried they will
get stuck with something like a
$8000 defective engine if they
buy from a car company that might
go bankrupt. The conjecture about
bankruptcy would hurt sales less
if new car customers knew they
had warranties backed by reliable
insurance companies or some other
entity (I am not going to suggest
the US Government).

Chrysler, Ford, and GM might also
allow and encourage OEM parts manufacturers
(Motorcraft, ACDelco, Bosch, Federal
Mogul, etc.) to give auto parts
retailers quicker access to more
parts for current model year cars
and trucks. If RockAuto provided
the auto parts and independent
or do-it-yourself mechanics did
the work, then fixing brand new
cars would not be so expensive.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

Gustave's
1993 Mazda MX3

This
is my
1993 Mazda MX3 V6 which
was purchased
from a friend who had it in storage
since 2004. To put it back in action
RockAuto
supplied
many hard
to find miscellaneous parts,
as well as the brakes, rear wheel
bearings, and suspension parts
that needed to be replaced due to
it being stored for such a long
time. I was happy to find
RockAuto was able to supply what
was needed.

The RockAuto
catalog is a pleasure to use. I check other
on-line suppliers,
but always find what I need at
RockAuto for the best price. Thanks
for the
excellent customer service.

Regards,
Gustave
in Ontario, Canada

Share Your
Hard WorkDo you purchase
parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto
would like to feature you and your
car or truck in our monthly newsletter.
Please email flamur@rockauto.com with
details.